Thursday, September 19, 2013

The international media, not surprisingly, sadly, is all
aflutter, reporting in high pitched and breathless tones the supposed change in
the Catholic Church around homosexuality, contraception and abortion because of
what they say Pope Francis said in the long interview he gave to a Jesuit
magazine, being published this month in English in the magazine: AMERICA and
available on line at their web site.

Not just tragically, but in some respects dangerously, the
major media outlets such as CNN, BBC, CBC, respectively in the US, Great
Britain, Canada, lift from serious, thoughtful, interviews such as the one
given by Pope Francis, those snippets designed not to inform in depth, but
rather to garner viewers who perhaps will buy more of the toothpaste or other
products being shilled between the brief ‘news’ segments.

Everyone, in particular both practicing and non-practicing
Catholics, should read, reflectively, the entire interview.

If that is done then what is revealed is the progressive
deepening of Gospel life which has been unfolding since the Fathers of the
Second Vatican Council began the document on the Church in the modern world
with these Christocentric, and therefore person focused words: “The joy and
hope, the grief and anguish….are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the
followers of Christ as well….”, indeed the entire document bears a meditative
re-reading.

Pope Paul VI took us deeper anew into the Gospel in his
encyclicals and homilies as did Bl. John Paul, look for example towards the end
of his encyclical The Gospel of Life, where in paragraph 99.3 the Holy Father
speaks directly, compassionately, encouragingly, with the gift of hope to women
who have had an abortion. Pope Emeritus Benedict continued this long progress
deeper into Gospel life through his teachings and now Pope Francis, who nowhere
in the interview deviates from Catholic teaching, is taking us deeper still
into having for each other, for every human being, the mind and heart of
Christ.

All this the media have missed!

For example, when asked to define himself Pope Francis
declares: “I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition.”

It is the answer, indeed the prime answer, every person
should speak as truth.

Even JD Salinger famous for Catcher in the Rye, in Fanny and
Zooey references the Jesus Prayer, a prayer recited by many monastics and laity
in particular in the Orthodox tradition, but among Roman Catholics as well,
containing the truth-speaking cry: have mercy on me a sinner.

When asked about what the Church needs today Pope Francis
stresses “…the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful….”
Stressing: “…I see the Church as a field hospital after battle…”

Spiritual warfare, unlike the battlefield horrors of Syria
where the devastating wounds are raw and visible, at first glance may not
appear to inflict such visible damage.

Seen with the eyes of Christ the broken lives are all around
us, people devastated by anxiety, loss of hope, rejection, abandonment,
loneliness, sometimes with the external signs of divorce, homelessness,
sickness, loss of home and job.

No wonder Pope Francis cries out in the interview both as a
plea and a command: “….Heal the wounds, heal the wounds.”

This is the teaching of Jesus straight from the parable of
the Good Samaritan.

In a world which, to borrow a phrase from Pope Pius IX, has “lost
a sense of sin”, we see in the teachings
of Pope Pius XII, particularly in the aftermath of WWII, the effort to
re-educate humanity about the sacredness of the human person, about fundamental
morality and there follows, from Bl.
John XXII to Benedict XVI, in the documents of the Second Vatican Council and
the Catechism of the Catholic Church, articulate, clear re-stressing, rooted in
Scripture, Sacred Tradition, the teachings over the millennia the depository of
dogma and moral doctrine which is clear, secure, accessible.

Pope Francis is not changing in this interview as the
pundits suggest, indeed cannot, change any of that.

No pope can.

What Pope Francis is trying to do, and this I am sure makes
some, perhaps many Catholics and others uncomfortable, is the very thing Jesus
did when He challenged the religious leaders to move from over emphasis on “the
Law”, which people knew and heard about every time they went to Temple, and to
place the emphasis on love and mercy.

I grew up when perhaps the most pernicious of all heresies
and distortions of authentic Catholic faith, rooted in the 17th
century, still held sway in much of the Church, certainly at the parochial
school and parish level.

Briefly put it sustained an atmosphere of clericalism,
disdain not only for the human body but even a suspicion about personhood and
conveyed the message that God was harsh, mean, so much so many Catholics were
fearful of God.

This is the journey out of bondage St. Pius X started us on,
that made St. Therese, the Little Flower so popular because she reminded us God
IS love, and now Pope Francis is seeking to take us all deeper NOT by changing
the truth about abortion, for example, but, as Bl. John Paul did, calling us to
Christ-like love and compassion for one another.

When in the interview, naturally the media skipped this
part, Pope Francis states: “The most important thing is the first proclamation:
Jesus Christ has saved you……the proclamation of the saving love of God comes
before moral and religious imperatives….” he is echoing the Council’s document
on the Church, which begins with the words: “Christ is the light of humanity.”,
and the words of Bl. John Paul in his first encyclical the Redeemer of Man: “The
Redeemer of man, Jesus Christ, is the center of the universe and of history.”

The interview is long, deep, should be read meditatively for
Pope Francis is revealing his passion for Jesus, his love for Jesus, his
passion for every human being, his love for every human being and his clear understanding
and trust in the deposit of faith from which flows the moral teaching, but Pope
Francis is reminding us of the Heart of Jesus, the essence of the Gospel which
is merciful love, the love which is such that the Father sent His only-begotten
Son into the world not to condemn us but to save us.

Finally when asked about prayer and Pope Francis states how
for him prayer is “…always a prayer of memory…” well is not [my words here not
the Pope’s] the critical ‘remembering’
to do in prayer that I am, that is I exist because I am beloved, yes a sinner
but a beloved sinner?

So beloved that Jesus died for me, for everyone.

The challenge is to remember after I pray to do what Jesus
asks of me: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Twelve years ago this evening most people in the Western
world, whatever their particular personal cares and struggles, would have had
no inkling what awaited the world the following their night’s sleep the sunny,
calm morning of the 11th.

This evening the American President seeks to justify the
world’s inaction in face of the carnage in Syria since the world has virtually
ignored the 100, 000 already known dead, the innumerable wounded, the millions
of refugees, yet the use of chemical weapons has shaken the world so perhaps
now something will be done.

The what and the how and by whom is what bedevils the
President and Congress.

Pope Francis begs the world’s leaders to strive for a
peaceful solution.

What amazes me, concerns me, the focus of my prayer, is how
much further down into the deep and dank valley of death this culture of
relativism has gone these past twelve years and how we fail, as Christians, to
face the stark reality of how our prayers and pleas to the Father through Jesus
for peace are at best diluted if not totally hypocritical because we lemming-like
follow the culture of death.

In the past twelve years hundreds of thousands of children
have been aborted, participation in liturgical and faith praxis life continues
to decline, divorce increases, anti-Christian media flourish, the family unit
rooted in sacramental marriage is diminished by the push for so-called ‘gay’
marriage, the push to legalize drugs, for euthanasia, growth of the culture of
self and greed extends its tentacles across the globe.

Besides the Islamist extremists continuing to attack the
west – London, Madrid, Boston not to mention the many attempts foiled in
various countries – within Islam itself sectarian violence continues on a daily
basis while in many African countries Christians are targeted by extremists on
a daily basis.

When will we change our ways so that our prayer is
consistent with our life choices?

When will we heed the exhortation of the Apostle Paul?: You
must live your whole life according to the Christ you have received – Jesus the
Lord; you must be rooted in Him and built on Him and held firm by the faith you
have been taught, and full of thanksgiving. Make sure that no one traps you and
deprives you of your freedom by some secondhand, empty, rational philosophy
based on the principles of this world instead of on Christ. [Col.2:6-8]

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Pope Francis has called for the entire Church, yet I hear
within his call an invitation to the entire human family, to pray and fast for
peace in Syria this coming Saturday September 7th.

Prayer, if we are not careful, can be uttered as a challenge
to God and if He fails to answer us exactly as we wish we can become
quite angry indeed.

I knew a now deceased radio personality who sincerely with
the urgency of a father’s heart made such a prayer when his child was seriously
ill.

The child died and the man never got over his anger.

Understandably, to be sure.

It is a dangerous thing to root our prayer where all prayer needs
be rooted, in the Our Father: “Thy will be done.”

That is the extremely difficult paradox that we first
encounter as little children and subsequently flee from as adults: Any petition
to a loving parent only guarantees the response itself will be loving, but not necessarily
what we want or perhaps expect.

As the Servant of God Catherine Doherty has taught: Prayer
must lead to total surrender, or it will lead us nowhere except back to
ourselves.

Total surrender in the context of prayer for Syria means
purging our hearts of all anger, desire to punish, exact revenge.

Prayer for peace must be prayer FOR peace, not that side x
or y wins!

Again Catherine reminds us that: It is this surrender we
fear so much…….

I recall the night of 9/11 about to celebrate Holy Mass, the
Mass the Church gives us to celebrate In Times of War and Civil Disturbance.

My sincere prayer was for peace but as I was about to make
the Sign of the Cross I was fully aware of the state of my emotions best summed
up in the expression: nuke them!

Bowing before the Icon of the Pantocrator I stayed bowed in
prayer until my emotions had settled and then was able to sincerely celebrate
Holy Mass for real peace.

Yes let us follow the request of Pope Francis and pray and
fast for peace in Syria, but let us do so both surrendered to the Holy Will of
God, whatever He may permit, and with hearts against no one but lovingly for
everyone.